This chapter is from the book

This chapter is from the book

The Identity and Access Management domain tests your knowledge of the large collection of mechanisms available to control authentication, authorization, and accounting. You must not only understand these systems, but also know the advantages and risks of each type as they relate to centralized and decentralized systems. Authentication is but one part of the process; authorization is also a key area of this domain. Individuals should be authorized for only what they need to complete their required tasks. Finally, there is accounting (or accountability). When things go wrong, there must be a way to establish a chain of responsibility. The following list highlights some key areas from the identity and access management domain you need to be aware of for the CISSP exam:

Keep in mind that the CISSP exam is offered worldwide. Just because you perform activities in a specific way at your worksite does not mean that specific methodology is the best answer for the exam. As an example, privacy laws are different in Europe than in the United States.

Practice Questions

Which of the following is not one of the three types of access controls?

A. Administrative

B. Personnel

C. Technical

D. Physical

Quick Answer: 192Detailed Answer: 194

Your company has just opened a call center in India to handle nighttime operations, and you are asked to review the site’s security controls. Specifically, you are asked which of the following is the strongest form of authentication. What will your answer be?

A. Something you know

B. Something you are

C. Passwords

D. Tokens

Quick Answer: 192Detailed Answer: 194

Your organization has become worried about recent attempts to gain unauthorized access to the R&D facility. Therefore, you are asked to implement a system that will require individuals to present a password and enter a PIN at the security gate before gaining access. What is this type of system called?

A. Authorization

B. Two-factor authentication

C. Authentication

D. Three-factor authentication

Quick Answer: 192Detailed Answer: 194

Which of the following is not one of the three primary types of authentication?

A. Something you remember

B. Something you know

C. Something you are

D. Something you have

Quick Answer: 192Detailed Answer: 194

While working as a contractor for Widget, Inc., you are asked what the weakest form of authentication is. What will you say?

A. Passwords

B. Retina scans

C. Facial recognition

D. Tokens

Quick Answer: 192Detailed Answer: 194

You’re preparing a presentation for the senior management of your company. They have asked you to rank the general order of accuracy of the most popular biometric systems, with 1 being the lowest and 5 being the highest. What will you tell them?

Which of the following items is the least important to consider when designing an access control system?

A. Risk

B. Threat

C. Vulnerability

D. Annual loss expectancy

Quick Answer: 192Detailed Answer: 195

Today, you are meeting with a coworker who is proposing that the number of logins and passwords be reduced. Another coworker has suggested that you investigate single sign-on technologies and make a recommendation at the next scheduled meeting. Which of the following is a type of single sign-on system?

A. Kerberos

B. RBAC

C. DAC

D. SAML

Quick Answer: 192Detailed Answer: 195

Which style of authentication is not susceptible to a dictionary attack?

A. CHAP

B. LEAP

C. WPA-PSK

D. PAP

Quick Answer: 192Detailed Answer: 195

Your organization has decided to use a biometric system to authenticate users. If the FAR is high, what happens?

A. Legitimate users are denied access to the organization’s resources.

B. Illegitimate users are granted access to the organization’s resources.

C. Legitimate users are granted access to the organization’s resources.

D. Illegitimate users are denied access to the organization’s resources.

Quick Answer: 192Detailed Answer: 195

Which of the following types of copper cabling is the most secure against eavesdropping and unauthorized access?

A. Single-mode fiber

B. Multimode fiber

C. Category 6 cabling

D. 802.11ac wireless

Quick Answer: 192Detailed Answer: 195

Which of the following is not one of the four access control models?

A. Discretionary

B. Mandatory

C. Role-based

D. Delegated

Quick Answer: 192Detailed Answer: 195

Auditing is considered what method of access control?

A. Preventive

B. Technical

C. Administrative

D. Physical

Quick Answer: 192Detailed Answer: 196

What method of access control system would a bank teller most likely fall under?

A. Discretionary

B. Mandatory

C. Role-based

D. Rule-based

Quick Answer: 192Detailed Answer: 196

Which of the following is the easiest and most common form of offline password hash attack used to pick off insecure passwords?

A. Hybrid

B. Dictionary

C. Brute-force

D. Man-in-the-middle

Quick Answer: 192Detailed Answer: 196

Your company is building a research facility in Bangalore and is concerned about technologies that can be used to pick up stray radiation from monitors and other devices. Specifically, your boss wants copper shielding installed. Which technology does your boss want to know more about?

A. Radon

B. Waveguard

C. Tempest

D. Van Allen

Quick Answer: 192Detailed Answer: 196

Which of the following is an XML-based, open-standard data format for exchanging authentication and authorization data between an identity provider and a service provider?

A. SAML

B. LDAP

C. OAuth

D. KryptoKnight

Quick Answer: 192Detailed Answer: 196

Christine, a newly certified CISSP, has offered to help her brother-in-law, Gary, at his small construction business. The business currently has 18 computers configured as a peer-to-peer network. All users are responsible for their own security and can set file and folder privileges as they see fit. Which access control model best describes the configuration at this organization?

A. Discretionary

B. Mandatory

C. Role-based

D. Nondiscretionary

Quick Answer: 192Detailed Answer: 196

Which of the following best describes challenge/response authentication?

A. It is an authentication protocol in which a salt value is presented to the user, who then returns an MD5 hash based on this salt value.

B. It is an authentication protocol in which a system of tickets is used to validate the user’s rights to access resources and services.

C. It is an authentication protocol in which the username and password are passed to the server using CHAP.

D. It is an authentication protocol in which a randomly generated string of values is presented to the user, who then returns a calculated number based on those random values.

Quick Answer: 192Detailed Answer: 196

Your company has installed biometric access control systems. Your director has mentioned that he thinks the systems will have a high FRR. What does this mean?

A. Quite a few valid users will be denied access.

B. Employees will accept the system.

C. Almost all unauthorized users will be denied.

D. The system has a high return rate and will quickly pay for itself.

Quick Answer: 192Detailed Answer: 196

Which of the following is the most time-intensive type of offline password attack to attempt?

A. Hybrid

B. Plain text

C. Brute-force

D. Man-in-the-middle

Quick Answer: 192Detailed Answer: 196

You are approached by a junior security officer who wants to know what CVE stands for. What do you tell him?

A. Critical Vulnerability and Exploits

B. Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures

C. Chosen Vulnerabilities and Exploits

D. Common Vulnerabilities and Exploits

Quick Answer: 192Detailed Answer: 197

Which of the following protocols is recommended to be turned off because it transmits usernames and passwords in plaintext?

A. SSH

B. HTTPS

C. Telnet

D. TFTP

Quick Answer: 192Detailed Answer: 197

Which biometric authentication system is most closely associated with law enforcement?

A. Fingerprint recognition

B. Iris recognition

C. Facial recognition

D. Retina pattern recognition

Quick Answer: 192Detailed Answer: 197

What type of access control system doesn’t give users much freedom to determine who can access their files and is known for its structure and use of security labels?

A. Discretionary

B. Mandatory

C. Role-based

D. Nondiscretionary

Quick Answer: 192Detailed Answer: 197

As the newly appointed security officer for your corporation, you suggest replacing the password-based authentication system with RSA tokens. Elsa, your chief technology officer, denies your request, citing budgetary constraints. As a temporary solution, Elsa asks that you find ways to increase password security. Which of the following will accomplish this goal?

A. Disabling password-protected screensavers

B. Enabling account lockout controls

C. Enforcing a password policy that requires noncomplex passwords

D. Enabling users to use the same password on more than one system

Quick Answer: 192Detailed Answer: 197

Which of the following is a major issue with signature-based IDSs?

A. Signature-based IDSs cannot detect zero-day attacks.

B. Signature-based IDSs can detect only attacks in which activity deviates from normal behavior.

C. Signature-based IDSs are available only as host-based systems.

D. Signature-based IDSs are cost-prohibitive.

Quick Answer: 192Detailed Answer: 197

Administrative controls form an important part of security, and although most of us don’t like paperwork, that is a large part of this security control. Which of the following is a high-level document that describes a management plan for how security should be practiced throughout the organization?

A. Guidelines

B. Policies

C. Procedures

D. Standards

Quick Answer: 192Detailed Answer: 197

A hacker submits a malicious URL request for a help page from an unpatched Apache server that supports an Oracle9i Application Server. This causes a denial of service. Which of the following would have best protected the corporation from this attack?

A. HIDS

B. NIPS

C. HIPS

D. NIDS

Quick Answer: 192Detailed Answer: 198

One of your coworkers has joined a CISSP study group and is discussing today’s list of topics. One of the topics is this: What is an example of a passive attack?

A. Dumpster diving

B. Sniffing

C. Installing SubSeven

D. Social engineering

Quick Answer: 192Detailed Answer: 198

What is one of the major reasons why separation of duties should be practiced?

A. Reduced cross-training

B. Legal

C. Union policies and procedures

D. To force collusion

Quick Answer: 192Detailed Answer: 198

There are two basic types of access control policies. Which of the following describes the best approach for a CISSP?

A. Begin with deny all.

B. Allow some based on needs analysis.

C. Begin with allow all.

D. Deny some based on needs analysis.

Quick Answer: 192Detailed Answer: 198

Your manager asks you to set up a fake network to identify contractors who may be poking around the network without authorization. What is this type of system called?

A. Trap-and-trace

B. Honeypot

C. Snare

D. Prison

Quick Answer: 192Detailed Answer: 198

Various operating systems such as Windows use what to control access rights and permissions to resources and objects?

A. RBAC

B. MITM

C. ABS

D. ACL

Quick Answer: 192Detailed Answer: 198

While hanging around the watercooler, you hear that your company, Big Tex Bank and Trust, is introducing a new policy. The company will require periodic job rotation and will force all employees to use their vacation time. From a security standpoint, why is this important?

A. Job rotation is important because it reduces employee burnout.

B. Job rotation is important because employees need to be cross-trained in case of man-made or natural disasters.

C. Job rotation ensures that no one can easily commit fraud or other types of deception without risking exposure.

D. Forcing employees to use their vacation time ensures time away from work, which results in healthy, more productive employees.

Quick Answer: 192Detailed Answer: 198

Your manager persists in asking you to set up a fake network to identify contractors who may be poking around the network without authorization. What legal issue pertaining to these devices should you be most concerned with?

A. Enticement

B. Federal Statute 1029

C. Entrapment

D. Liability

Quick Answer: 192Detailed Answer: 198

Your brother-in-law, Mario, is studying for the CISSP exam. He text-messages you with what he believes is an important question: What is a major disadvantage of access control lists? How do you answer him?

A. Overhead of the auditing function

B. Burden of centralized control

C. Independence from resource owners

D. Lack of centralized control

Quick Answer: 192Detailed Answer: 198

Table 5.1 provides an example of some types and categories of access control. Which of the following is the best example of a technical deterrent?

Table 5.1 Sample Access Types and Categories

Attribute

Deterrent

Preventive

Detective

Corrective

Recovery

Compensating

Administrative

-

-

Audit Policy

-

Incident Response Plan

-

Technical

-

ACLs

-

-

-

-

Physical

-

-

-

Fire Extinguisher

-

Defense in depth

A. AUP

B. Warning banner

C. Anti-virus

D. Hot site

Quick Answer: 192Detailed Answer: 199

What does TACACS+ use as its communication protocol?

A. TCP

B. UDP

C. ICMP

D. TCP and UDP

Quick Answer: 192Detailed Answer: 199

Which of the following attributes does not apply to MAC?

A. Multilevel

B. Label-based

C. Universally applied

D. Discretionary

Quick Answer: 192Detailed Answer: 199

Which of the following is not part of physical access control?

A. CCTV

B. Mantraps

C. Data classification and labeling

D. Biometrics

Quick Answer: 192Detailed Answer: 199

During a weekly staff meeting, your boss reveals that some employees have been allowing other employees to use their passwords. He is determined to put a stop to this and wants you to install biometric access control systems. He has asked about some basic attributes, such as type I errors, type II errors, and the CER, as shown in Figure 5.1. What’s so important about the CER? How do you respond?

B. The CER has to do with the customer acceptance rate because some systems are more user-friendly than others.

C. Accuracy typically is determined by calculating the CER.

D. The CER has to do with the cost per employee because some biometric access control systems are very good, but also very expensive.

Quick Answer: 192Detailed Answer: 199

Kerberos has some features that make it a good choice for access control and authentication. One of these items is a ticket. What is a ticket used for?

A. A ticket is a block of data that allows users to prove their identity to an authentication server.

B. A ticket is a block of data that allows users to prove their identity to a service.

C. A ticket is a block of data that allows users to prove their identity to a ticket-granting server.

D. A ticket is a block of data that allows users to prove their identity to the Kerberos server.

Quick Answer: 192Detailed Answer: 199

What is the best definition of identification?

A. The act of verifying your identity

B. The act of claiming a specific identity

C. The act of finding or testing the truth

D. The act of inspecting or reviewing a user’s actions

Quick Answer: 192Detailed Answer: 199

What term means that a user cannot deny a specific action because there is positive proof that he or she performed it?

A. Accountability

B. Auditing

C. Nonrepudiation

D. Validation

Quick Answer: 192Detailed Answer: 199

What type of cryptography does SESAME use to distribute keys?

A. Public key

B. Secret key

C. SHA hashing algorithm

D. None; it uses plaintext

Quick Answer: 192Detailed Answer: 199

Which of the following is a category of security controls that job rotation fits into?

A. Recovery

B. Corrective

C. Detective

D. Compensation

Quick Answer: 192Detailed Answer: 199

What does RADIUS use for its transport protocol?

A. UDP

B. TCP

C. TCP and UDP

D. ICMP

Quick Answer: 192Detailed Answer: 200

Your chief information officer (CIO) needs your recommendation for a centralized access control system to maintain all the users and associated permissions. He also wants to be able to use this system for a wireless local area network (LAN). In addition to the wireless LAN requirement, the network administrator has stated that it is not important to the CIO to have a system that will split the authentication, authorization, and accounting processes up; however, having the option to use UDP, SCTP, or TCP is a must. The CIO also requires a SSO technology that can support non-repudiation and authenticity. The CIO has stated he is willing to purchase more than one system to meet the specified requirements. Which of the following is the best recommendation you would give?

A. Purchase a Diameter for centralized access control and SESAME for SSO.

B. Purchases a RADIUS for centralized access control and Kerberos because it is most commonly used and, most importantly, has been around a long time and many organizations trust it.

C. Purchase a Diameter for centralized access control and Kerberos for SSO.

D. Purchase Extended Terminal Access Controller System for centralized access control and use SESAME for SSO.

Quick Answer: 192Detailed Answer: 200

You have been promoted to security officer for a Fortune 500 company and are performing an audit of elevated privileges for the network. You observe that there are many members from the help desk that have privileges to various systems that they do not require to do their job on a daily basis. What best business practice does your company lack?

A. Separation of duties

B. Principle of least privilege

C. Need to know

D. Privilege creep

Quick Answer: 192Detailed Answer: 200

What does strong authentication require?

A. Public/private keys

B. Using two different methods of identification

C. Using a method of identification from at least two of type I, II, or III

D. Authenticating inside an encrypted tunnel

Quick Answer: 192Detailed Answer: 200

You have a homogeneous environment with multiple application servers. Your users are having difficulty remembering all their passwords as they complete their daily activities. What would be the best solution?

A. Lower the passwords’ complexity requirements

B. Implement harsher penalties

C. Add assisted user reset capabilities

D. Use single sign-on

Quick Answer: 192Detailed Answer: 200

How do you lower type 1 errors on biometric devices?

A. By increasing type 2 errors

B. By decreasing type 2 errors

C. By increasing precision

D. By decreasing CER

Quick Answer: 192Detailed Answer: 200

When you log into your remote server from home, your server sends you a nonce that you enter into a token device that you were issued when you were hired. Your token device responds with a value you enter at the prompt. What have you entered?

A. A single sign-on using synchronous authentication

B. A one-time password using synchronous authentication

C. A single sign-on using asynchronous authentication

D. A one-time password using asynchronous authentication

Quick Answer: 192Detailed Answer: 200

Which of the following describes a distinction between Kerberos and SESAME?

Being asked what your maiden name is, what city you were born in, and what your pet’s name is an example of what?

A. Single sign-on (SSO)

B. Self-service password reset

C. Centralized authentication

D. Assisted passwords

Quick Answer: 192Detailed Answer: 201

Which of the following best describes a federated identity?

A. Simply another term for SSO.

B. It is restricted to use within a specific domain or area of the network.

C. Type I authentication (something you know).

D. It is portable and can be used across business boundaries.

Quick Answer: 192Detailed Answer: 201

Which of the following is the most accurate biometric system?

A. A CER of 1

B. A CER of 2

C. A CER of 3

D. None of the above because CER is not a numeric rating

Quick Answer: 192Detailed Answer: 201

Which type of control that includes fences, password protection, and CCTV is designed to stop an event from occurring?

A. Detective control

B. Preventive control

C. Corrective control

D. Deterrent control

Quick Answer: 192Detailed Answer: 201

Nondiscretionary access control includes which of the following?

A. Role- and task-based

B. Rule-based and mandatory

C. Labeled and mandatory

D. None of the above because there are no subcategories

Quick Answer: 192Detailed Answer: 201

What is a trust?

A. A one-way-only bridge established between two domains

B. A two-way-only bridge established between two domains

C. A security bridge that is established after a valid authentication

D. A security bridge that is established between two domains

Quick Answer: 192Detailed Answer: 201

What form of authorization is closely associated with labels?

A. Rule-based access control

B. Discretionary access control

C. Mandatory access control

D. Role-based access control

Quick Answer: 192Detailed Answer: 201

How can a swipe card, smart card, or USB dongle be described?

A. An active token

B. A static token

C. Type I authentication

D. Type III authentication

Quick Answer: 192Detailed Answer: 202

The Equal Error Rate is equivalent to what?

A. The point at which false acceptance and false rejection meet

B. The crossover error rate minus 10 percent

C. The point at which false acceptance is at its highest and false rejection is at its lowest

D. The point at which false acceptance is at its lowest and false rejection is at its highest

Quick Answer: 192Detailed Answer: 202

Which of the following is the most expensive means of verifying a user’s identity?

A. Single sign-on

B. Tokens

C. Biometrics

D. Passwords

Quick Answer: 192Detailed Answer: 202

Which biometric system examines the colored portion of the eye that surrounds the pupil?

A. Iris

B. Retina

C. Fovea

D. Optic disc

Quick Answer: 192Detailed Answer: 202

Which of the following best describes a rainbow table?

A. An attack against a biometric system

B. An attack against a fingerprint scanner

C. A table used for digital signatures

D. A table of precomputed password hashes

Quick Answer: 192Detailed Answer: 202

The ticket-granting service is a component of what?

A. TACACS

B. Kerberos

C. RADIUS

D. SESAME

Quick Answer: 192Detailed Answer: 202

The Privilege Attribute Certificate (PAC) is a component of what?

A. TACACS

B. Kerberos

C. RADIUS

D. SESAME

Quick Answer: 192Detailed Answer: 202

What nontechnical attack attempts to lure the victim into giving up financial data, credit card numbers, or other types of account information?

A. Pretexting

B. Social engineering

C. Dumpster diving

D. Phishing

Quick Answer: 192Detailed Answer: 202

You are asked to work on a project where users need to share credentials across multiple domains without forcing them to log in more than once. What technologies might meet this business need?

A. Cookies

B. Unique X.509 certificates

C. Web access management

D. Separate usernames and passwords

Quick Answer: 192Detailed Answer: 202

Your company was initially considering three security models to use to design access rights and controls in its new operating system (OS). These models included Biba, Bell-LaPadula, and Clark Wilson. If the company decided to base its OS on the Biba model, which of the following properties is correct?

A. A user cannot write down to a lower level.

B. The model makes use of transformational procedures and constrained data items.

C. The user cannot write up to a higher level.

D. If a user has access to one side of the wall, he does not have access to data on the other side of the wall.

Quick Answer: 192Detailed Answer: 202

Which of the following refers to the process of creation, maintenance, and deletion of user objects?

A. Identification

B. Verification

C. Authentication

D. Provisioning

Quick Answer: 192Detailed Answer: 202

Object reuse can be an important issue when considering which of the following?

A. RAM scraping attacks

B. Authentication method

C. Type of biometric system used

D. Strength of a password

Quick Answer: 192Detailed Answer: 202

Which form of access control has a many-to-many relationship and makes use of mapping between a user and a subset of goals?

A. MAC

B. DAC

C. Rule-based access control

D. Core RBAC

Quick Answer: 192Detailed Answer: 202

Which of the following is the best example of capabilities tables?

A. Memory cards

B. Kerberos

C. Constrained user interface

D. Router ACL

Quick Answer: 192Detailed Answer: 202

Which of the following provides an upgrade path from RADIUS?

A. Diameter

B. TACACS

C. Kerberos

D. NetSP

Quick Answer: 192Detailed Answer: 203

Investigations are a good example of which of the following?

A. Detective control

B. Preventive control

C. Deterrent control

D. Proactive control

Quick Answer: 192Detailed Answer: 203

Although an authorized sniffer has been connected to a network switch, the user can only see traffic directed to the device and some broadcast traffic. What might be the problem?